The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-05-22

Tell me, was the rock you built your fur
mace of redE"
'Si, Senior"
"And BROWNE
Isl, Senior"
"And crumbled under the heatr
AS to nothing"
"And did you sec much of this red rockr
"The mountain mother is in travail with il {"
"Are you sure that your comrades have nos
taken possession of the mountain motherF'
| "As hosf-
"By claiming its discovery under the min
ing laws, or by pre-emptionr
They SHALL not"
Tut Low viii you, single handed, fight the
four: for | doubt not your scientific friend
has a hand in iti'
Il will fight"
YES, my Concho, but suppose 1 take the
fight off your hands Now, here's a propo-
sition: will get half dozen Americanos to
go in with you. You will have to get money
to work the mine-you will need funds. You
shall share half with them They will take
the risk, raise the money, and protect you"
Il see" said Concho, nodding his head and
winking his eyes rapidly. Buenot"
Il will return in ten minutes" said the
uOctOr, taxing MS nat
He was rs good as his word. In ten min
utos he returned with six original Iocaters, a
board of directors, president, secretary, and
deed of incorporation of the BLUE Mass
Quicksilver Mining Co" This latter was a
delicate compliment to the doctor, who was
popular. The president added to these neces-
sary articles a revolver.
take it, he said, handing over the weapon
to Concho. take it; my horse is outside;
take that, ride like HI and hang on to the
claim until we conner
In another moment Concho was in the sad
die Then the mining director lapsed into
the physician
Il hardly know" said DR. Guild, doubt
fully, 'if, in your present condition, you
ought to travel You have just taken pow
erful medicine and the doctor looked hypo
critically concerned.
"Ah,-the devilr' laughed Concho, "what il
the quicksilver that is in to that which is outS
Hoopa, la Mulai" and, with a cIatter of hoofs
and jingle of spurs, he was presently lost in
the darkness
@You were none to soon gentlemen said the
American alcalde, he drew up before the
doctors door. "Another company has Just
been Incorporated for the same location, L
reckon"
~Who are theyg'
Three Mexicans-Pedro, Manuel and Mig
uel-headed by that id cock-eyed Sydney
duck Wiles.r
Are they herp,"
manuel and Miguel, only. The others
are over at Tres Pinos lally-gaging Roscom-
mon and trying to rope him in to pay off their
whisky bills at his grocery
If that's SO we needn't start before sunrise.
for they're sure to get roaring drunk"
And this legitimate successor of the grave
Mexican alcaldes, having thus delivered his
impartial opinion, rode away.
Meanwhile, Concho the redoubtable, Concho
the fortunate, spared neither RATA nor spur
The way was dark, the trail obscure and at
times even dangerous, and Concho, familiar
as he was with these mountain fastnessss,
often regretted his sure-foOted Francisquita
Care not, o Concho," he would say to him
self, It's but a little while, only a little while.
and thou shalt have another Francisquita to
bless thee. Eth, shipjack, there was fine music
to thy dancing. A dollar for an ounce-'tis
as good as silver, AMI merrier." Yet for all
his good spirits he kept a sharp lookout at
certain bends of the mountain trail: not for
assassins or briSands, for Concho was physi-
cally courageous, but for the Evil one. who. in
various forms, was said To lurk in the Santa
Cruz range, to the great discomfort of all true
Catholics. He recalled the incident of Lena
clio, muleteer of the Franciscan friars, who,
stopping at the Angelus to repeat the credo.
saw Luzbel plainly in the likeness of a mon
strous grizzly bear, hooking him by sitting
on his launches and lifting his paws clasped
together, as if in prayer. Nevertheless. with
one hand grasping the reins and his rosary
and the other clutchinS his whisky flask and
revolver, he Jared on so rapidly that he
reached the summit as the earlier streaks of
dawn were outlining the far-off Sierran
peaks. lettering his horse on a strip of
table land, he descended cautiously afoot un-
TIL he reached the bench, the wall of red rock
and the crumbled and dismantled furnace. IL
was as he had left it that morning; there was
no trace of recent human visitation Revolver
in hand, Concho examined every cave. gully
and recess, peered behind trees, penetrated
copses of buckeye and manzanita and listened
There was no sound but the faint soughing
of the wind over the pines below him For a
while he pacesi backward and forward with n
'Nc,eN '" VI bShAe a ocLthici- Out nlcr-
curial nature soon reteIed against this mo
notony, and soon the fatigues of the day began
to tell upon him Recourse to his whisky
flask only made him the brewster, until at
last he was fam to lie down and roll himself
up tightly in his blanket The next moment
he was sound asleep.
His horse neighed twice from the summit.
but Concho heard him not Then the brush
cracked on the ledge above him, a small frag-
ment of rock rolled near his feet, but he stirred
not And then two black figures were out
lined on the crags beyond.
~St-t-t," whispered a voice. There is one
lying beside the furnace" The speech was
Spanish, but the voice was Wiles'.
The other figure crept cautiously TO the
edge Of the crag and looked over at is
Concho, the imbecile, " said Pedro, conternptu-
ously.
But il he should not be alone, or il he
should wakenr
Il viii watch and wait. Go you and afix
the notification"
Wiles disappeared Pedro began to creep
down the face Of the rocky ledge, supporting
htnnnn by chem;sal and bruxhwood
Ths next nsouuens Pedro stood b<uias H.
-. u ~. -. - :. =. e. 81 8 8